


Mother for the year

by HKGlenstid



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hylia - Freeform, Link needs to get his act together, Misunderstandings, Ordon - Freeform, POV Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Talking Link (Legend of Zelda), Zelda - Freeform, Zelda is a mom, Zelda is op, link - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2018-12-11 01:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11703858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HKGlenstid/pseuds/HKGlenstid
Summary: Things weren't suppose to happen this way. A vacation for a year. Link mistaken as Zelda's husband. And the whole village of Ordon mistaken belief that the baby she cradles is hers. How could this year get any worse? slight AU. Series of oneshots.





	1. Prologue

Prologue

“Zelda why don’t you go on a vacation?”  
Such a simple offer brought confusion to Zelda. Having her father just pass away, she was the only one to take her father’s place. How could she just take a vacation?  
The young monarch was currently in her spacious office, working hard for the majority of the day, skipping lunch in the process. She was working at her desk, a giant window right behind her showing a grand view of Castletown.  
Her usual bright eyes were replaced with bags underneath, and the barely noticeable red lines. She was still in her blue nightgown, not bothering to change to proper attire for the day. She was slightly paler than normal as well, that much was for certain, and seeing her like this crushed Impa.  
“I beg your pardon Impa?” Zelda started. “I am too busy to even start thinking of all the things. We have to plan the ceremony where I am crowned, finish the legalities of the new taxes-”  
“I am well aware of what must be done,” Impa interrupted. “But you must worry about your health as well. A kingdom can only be run by one that is healthy.”  
“I am fine Impa,” Zelda protested.  
“You were coughing out blood only last week.”  
“It’s a minor set back! The people need me!”  
“The people can wait!”  
The older woman rarely raised her voice. Whenever she did, Zelda would always become silent, and now was no exception. There was an awkward silence between the two, before Impa walked behind Zelda and embraced her.  
Impa sighed, hating the stubbornness that the princess had. Much like her late father, Zelda was too hard working, enough to not care about her own health.  
“Since you have yet to come of age,” Impa started, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Legally as your guardian I have the right to dismiss you from your work until your coronation.”  
Zelda’s eyes widened, before dropping her quill.  
“Impa ple-”  
“Which is why,” Impa interrupted. “I hereby dismiss you from your duties until your coronation. Fear not princess, for I will see to the plans for the ceremony, you merely need to arrive back home for your birthday next year.”  
Zelda stayed silent, slumping her shoulders, defenseless and at a loss.  
“Then all the work that my father left behind?”  
“I’m not saying don’t do it,” Impa answered, stepping back from the embrace and looking out the window. “I’m saying, take a well deserved break.”  
“For a year,” Zelda muttered under her breath.  
“A well deserved break.”  
There was another silence between the two of them, before Impa was lost in thought again.  
“That reminds me, you are going to need an escort,” the sheikah woman stated, tapping her chin once more, before a smile crept onto her face. “Take your personal guard with you. He’s traveled a lot and knows Hyrule well. Surely he would be a good escort.”  
“You mean Link?” Zelda asked.  
“Is there another personal guard you can think off?” Impa teased, noticing that the princess’s face had reddened slightly in embarrassment.  
“I understand…I don’t actually have a say in this matter do I?”  
Impa smirked as she shook her head.

‘That’s how it had started. So how…how in Naryu’s name did it become like this?’  
Zelda and Link were currently in Faron woods, after a day’s journey on Epona, the two were under the pretense of a couple. They were both young, and if Zelda had used her own horse, they would have been found out immediately, so this was the most believable story.  
They were both dressed out of their normal attire, with Zelda in a common blue dress and brown cloak covering her, while Link had a simple white shirt and brown pants, his sword however was still strapped to his back. Zelda had her rapier by her side as well, since she had insisted as it wasn’t too uncommon for a woman to have her own weapon.  
The two ‘lovers’ finally agreed on a destination, being Ordon as it was Link’s hometown, and a peaceful place to rest according to the knight in question.  
Traveling through Faron woods, the two came across the sound of a baby crying.  
Which was the current situation at hand.  
The two had gotten off Epona, and found the baby wrapped in cloth held tightly in the arms of their dead mother.  
“Bandits,” Link had said, judging by the conditions on the mothers clothing as it was definitely slashed by a blade. “We should leave, no doubt the bandits have horses. Since the mother ran here on foot, the cries of the baby would no doubt have reached them.”  
Zelda nodded, and the two quickly ran back to Epona, with Zelda in front, cradling the crying child. Link looked back into the woods once more, before urging Epona into a quick gallop.  
It wasn’t long before an arrow had been shot. Link forcefully lowered Zelda’s head, as he scanned the forest above.  
He cursed.  
“Epona can’t out run them,” Link stated. “Not when she is carrying the luggage and us. I’ll lead them on a diversion somehow…there!”  
Link pointed at one of the river streams, stopping Epona.  
“Your highness take the baby and quickly dive into the stream. It leads right to Ordon.”  
“Are you crazy,” Zelda hissed. “I’m the princess. I don’t do this sort of thing.”  
“Right,” Link stated. “I advise you to consider taking the stream towards Ordon for your personal safety in case they block the roads up ahead, unless you want to die by bandits. Which is perfectly fine for the people of Hyrule to lose their new monarch before she is crowned. Any questions?”  
Zelda muttered some unroyal like curses under her breath, as she clumsily got off Epona, careful not to hurt the baby in her arms.  
“I’m not forgetting your rudeness Link,” Zelda glared.  
“Nor do I ask you too,” Link smirked, which disappeared almost immediately. “Now move along.”  
He looked back across his shoulder, turning Epona around. He galloped back towards the direction of the bandits withdrawing his blade. Seeing no option, Zelda unstrapped the rapier from her waist, holding it with her left, while cradling the baby with her right.  
She leapt into the river stream hissing at the cold water.  
Together with the child, she let the river push her along. Now how should she stop the baby from crying? She tried rocking, though it was difficult when trying to stay afloat. Despite Zelda’s best attempts at cooing the baby. What could she do? She has no experience with these kinds of things.  
“Did you hear that?”  
Zelda gasped, clamping her hand gently around the baby’s mouth. The cries were muffled, but nonetheless the baby cries were still loud. Loud enough for whoever it was to hear.  
Suddenly a looming figure appeared above her. Judging by their torn clothing and weapons by their sides, Zelda immediately came to the conclusion that they were bandits. She kicked against the water, and started swimming away.  
“She saw you idiot. Kill her!”  
Zelda dared not look back, focusing only on getting the child to safety. Following the stream, there was a shallow dropped, and Zelda tumbled off and into deeper water. Not expecting that, she became totally drenched and her wet hair began to cloud her vision.  
She could hear the sounds of the bandits closing in on her. She desperately swam, and she couldn’t hear the bandit’s voices anymore. She smiled. She was losing the bandits. Then a sudden sharp pain entered her shoulder. She cried out, as she gently placed her hand on it, feeling the wooden shaft of an arrow.  
Zelda dropped couldn’t help but release her rapier. She cursed, but decided to keep swimming. But with her left arm in pain, and cradling the child in her other, the current became stronger. The water’s caused Zelda to crash against a rock, smacking her head on the hard surface. She became tired and drowsy, as she desperate tried to stay afloat for the baby’s sake. But it wasn’t long before the world slowly caved in and turned black.

The village of Ordon was a peaceful one. Outside a house on the outskirts of the village was Collin, using a wooden sword on one of the training dummies. Everyday he would use the dummies, as if waiting for Link to come home. He missed the older boy, as it was like he had an older brother that looked after him and played with him.  
He wondered if Link was well, if he had found a new home or maybe if he had found someone to life with for the rest of his life.  
The day was getting darker as the sun was setting, and Collin called it a day. Walking back towards the village, he came across the river, seeing a limp body floating gently across it. An arrow was embedded in her left shoulder, and in her other arm there was a baby crying.  
Collin’s eyes widened. He took a step back, before running to his parent’s house.  
“MUM! THERE’S A DEAD BODY IN THE RIVER!”

**A/N: Thanks for reading this so far. If you are interested in my writing, then take a look at my blog. There's a link in my profile as google hasn't indexed it yet TT_TT. I'll be updating that much more often than fanfics sadly, so yeah. Once again thank you for reading this.**


	2. Girls are weird

**A/N: Sorry I have been busy. I originally had a full story for this fic, but I realised that I won't spend enough time for it. To make up for it, it'll be a series of light hearted one shots, so you can quit reading whenever you want. Anyway, I didn't think this would get as much attention as it did, so please stop pming me to continue. I'm sorry, but I'll do it at my own pace thank you very much. Without further ado-**

* * *

**Girls are weird**

On a grassy hill near the village of Ordon. Two friends were cloud watching with pure boredom.

"Girls are weird," Talo stated, looking up at the blue sky. His head was rested on his arms, as he lay on the grass, cloud watching.

"What makes you say that?" Collin asked, looking equally as bored as his friend.

"Well, none of them make sense," Talo answered.

"How so?"

There was a brief silence as Talo shut his eyes to think about it. The seconds grew into what seemed like hours, before Talo, opened his eyes once more.

"They just are," he said. "Like, Ilia, she goes around as being modest and kind, yet she dresses up all the time to look pretty."

"Girls like to look pretty…"

"What about Beth? She loves all the attention she can get, yet when we play with her, she just all of a sudden hates us."

"Girls don't play with swords…"

Talo tsked, obviously not convinced, as he sat up, crossing his arms defiantly.

"You're no fun Collin," he stated, standing up from his spot.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to play a prank on someone. Probably Ilia again or something. Or maybe that Zelda lady! Speaking of which, seen any good spiders that I can use this time?"

"N-No."

Talo tsked again, leaving the grassy hill. Collin sighed, watching his only male friend walk down towards the village. He stood up from his spot and followed Talo.

* * *

"I'm back mum," Collin called out, slipping off his sandals at the front entrance.

Inside, a young woman stared back at the young boy, a baby cradle in her arms.

"Welcome back Collin," Zelda said, her voice soothing to Collin's ears. "Your mother is out at the moment with your father."

"Oh okay…"

The young boy looked at the baby cradled in the young mother's arms. Then back at the beautiful face of Zelda. He remembered the previous week, when she showed up all of a sudden in the lake, bleeding from an arrow wound. The young mother Zelda, and her child Hylia. The bandit problem was becoming even worse, and he wasn't sure if his father was in peak condition anymore.

What would have happened if she wasn't found? Would she have died?

"Is there something on my face?" Zelda asked.

"U-Uh no, I was just thinking of something."

"I see," Zelda said, giving a gentle smile. "Well I'm going to get some fresh air with Hylia. Do you want to accompany me?"

Collin shook his head.

"I'll wait for my parents to come back. Dad would probably want to do some basic sword training with me."

"Alright, I'll be off then."

As Zelda left the house, Collin started to remember the conversation that he had with Talo.

_Girls are weird._

Was Zelda weird as well? Surely not, she was kind, beautiful, and seemed to get along with everyone. She was modest like Ilia, but didn't flaunt her beauty. She accepted attention from others like Beth, but didn't cave into it. Maybe…just maybe, Zelda could prove to Talo, that not all girls were weird. The young boy clenched his fist in determination, no doubt was left in his mind. He will prove that Zelda, was normal.

* * *

The curious boy had followed the young woman for the majority of the afternoon, desperate to see if she was weird in anyway. She hadn't shown any signs of being weird. It was only after a good walk, he had followed Zelda to Ordon Spring, where he was now watching her…stand in the spring doing nothing. She just stood there, baby in her arms, staring at the cascading water flowing from the rocks.

Was this weird? She could be just enjoying the water around her feet. Five minutes passed, and nothing happened. Ten minutes soon became half an hour, and Collin was starting to get bored. What was Zelda doing?

He was starting to doze off, just watching Zelda stand there, until it happened. The unspeakable, the unthinkable, the horror itself.

A rock sailed through the air and knocked on Zelda's head, causing her to stumble back a bit.

Collin's jaw dropped from the suddenness of it, before he slowly turned his head to the culprit, seeing a familiar sight of a monkey. Those pests! Collin felt the need to step in and teach the monkey a lesson, but it was this moment that the young boy would never forget.

After Zelda recovered from her stumble, she crouched down, and grabbed the rock that was thrown at her. She turned and looked towards the monkey, her back towards Collin. The monkey was hysterical, as Zelda pulled back her arm, and let loose the rock.

It sailed, and Collin swore it glowed, before it erupted into a massive explosion. The hysterical laughter disappeared, and all that was left was an eerie silence, and some smoke from the explosion. Collin's lip trembled as he slowly rose to his feet. He took a step back, only to reveal his location from a twig snapping. He clamped his hand around his mouth as he forced himself not to whimper, as Zelda turned to face his direction, her eyes, angered like the devil was staring right into his soul right now. Following his instincts, he ran as fast as he could to the only place he could. Collin had to warn him, before it was too late.

He ran into town, ignoring the look of surprise on the other villager's face, before arriving at his destination, pounding on the door.

"Open up! It's an emergency!"

There was the sound of feet shuffling towards the door, before the door opened, revealing a yawning Talo.

"What do you want Collin? I was taking a nap."

"Talo, you can't play a prank on Miss Zelda," Collin said fearfully.

Talo raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"How come?"

"Because…girls are scary."


	3. Baby Steps

**Baby steps**

A sharp cry rings through the night, as Zelda opened her eyes, torn away from a dream. She groans, her eyes slightly watered from the abrupt awakening as she pulled the covers off her body and rolled out of bed and onto the wooden floors. She held back a couple of curses as she reached out blindly in the dark to whatever she could grab on. Finding her hand on the now familiar wooden dresser, she pulled herself up. She gave off a yawn as she slowly shuffled through the room, trying to get to the baby and being careful not to crash into anything.

There, the wooden cradle held the horror of Zelda's past couple of days, as it never closed its mouth.

"Shhhh," Zelda whispered, reaching into the cradle and gently picking up the baby. "Mommy is here. It's alright."

The cries died down a little, before the baby started crying it's head off once more. Zelda's head stung from the cries, and she couldn't get the child to hush.

Behind her she heard the door open and a set of quiet footsteps entered the room. Zelda couldn't say anything as a pair of hands took Hylia from her arms, as the sound of cooing started.

"There there child," Uli said, her arms patting Hylia's back. She gently touched her head to the baby's, a soft smile on her face.

The crying slowly died down once more, before it was no more than a couple off gurgles. Seeing her work down, the pregnant woman stepped past Zelda and laid Hylia back into the cradle.

"Sorry for all the trouble," Zelda apologized.

Uli raised her hand up to hush the younger woman.

"Don't fret about it," she replied.

Standing up fully, Uli made her way out of the room.

"I'll need to go heat up some warm milk for Hylia," she said. "Want to come with?"

Zelda pondered at the vibrant pregnant woman, envious to her inner strength. She swallowed the thought, before standing up as well, eyeing her elder curiously.

"I would love to."

The older blonde gave off a gentle smile, as she ushered quietly for Zelda to follow her.

* * *

Zelda felt a little peevish at the sight of Uli feeding the baby. Sure, in reality Hylia wasn't her child but…well just that, she was sure she didn't feel any motherly instincts, but she did feel an obligation of sorts to her.

A small burp interrupted Zelda's thoughts, as Uli patted the baby over he shoulder.

"You make it look simple and easy," Zelda commented, humour in her voice.

Uli looked abashed, and tad embarrassed at the sudden compliment.

"Well, it'll come with experience dear," Uli answered. "I did have the other villagers to help me out with Collin. In fact, I was probably doing considerably worse than you right now."

"I don't believe it," Zelda stated, surprised and disbelief in her voice. "Stop pulling my leg."

"I am not," the older woman giggled. "Collin would cry for the whole day, and I couldn't do anything about that. I think it's a sense of comfort, you see I was very nervous with Collin. You can't show that, or the baby will feel unsafe."

"I feel like I would drop Hylia any time, or leave her starving. I don't have any other older female acquaintances that I can discuss this with."

Except maybe Impa…but she doesn't have a child, so probably not the best option. Zelda inwardly snickered at the thought of Impa raising a baby. Then immediately stopped finding it funny, as Impa would probably teach them to use a sword as soon as they could walk.

"I see, that must be terrible," Uli continued, staring at the contempt face of Hylia. "Where is your husband?"

Zelda didn't know how to answer, as Uli hadn't brought up the topic since Zelda had been recovering. Didn't want to put any potential stress on her guest. But upon watching Zelda struggle to come up with an explanation, she immediately gasped and thought the worse.

"He abandoned you?" Uli asked. "I am so sorry, I should not have said anything-"

"Please it is alright," Zelda interrupted, feeling sheepish. "Yes he did abandon us-"

Uli gave a very depressed expression.

"Nononono, not in that way," Zelda interrupted while flailing her arms about in a non-royal manner. "I was attacked by bandits if you recall, and it was then that he lead them on a chase. He is very lovely, caring, and wouldn't put me in harms way."

Because it was his duty as a knight…yeah, Zelda wasn't going to mention that. Feeling the heat rush to her face, Zelda coughed nervously, and started pouring herself a glass of water. She started drinking it quickly as if it were some alcoholic beverage.

"I see you truly love your husband."

Zelda spluttered, water flying out of her mouth as she was caught unguarded by the sudden comment. She coughed a bit, hitting her chest as she regained her breath.

"Oh my, are you alright?" Uli asked, her face full of concern.

"Yes, yes," Zelda assured her, sitting back up in a proper manner and raising both her hands in a calming manner. "I'm perfectly fine, I was just not expecting you to say it so…bluntly."

"Ah…but I do know the feeling. My Rusl is always out there, defending the village. He'll be taking care of the bandits that attacked you don't worry. But at times I really can't help but worry for him. He's a muscle head him."

"Then when he has free time he is always training with his sword-"

"Or exploring the area like a child-"

"Or picking fights to prove that he is the strongest."

"…No, Rusl doesn't do that. He knows that he'll get a scolding."

"Oh."

"…Your husband sounds egotistical."

Zelda snickered. Link would flip if he were told that. Seeing the younger woman relax from the conversation brought a smile to Uli's face, before she too burst out into a fit of giggles. They were two very strange peas in a pod.

* * *

After putting Hylia to sleep, Zelda lay awake in her bed. She tossed and turned, unable to go back to sleep. The thought about her first impressions of Ordon was nice to say in the least. The townsfolk were friendly, and worked together like one big unit. Like a family. Like a small kingdom.

Zelda thought back to her younger years as a child, about how her father wouldn't talk to her after her mother died. How she grew up alone, not knowing of the outside world until that fateful day where Zant invaded. Only then did she realize her naivety. Thankfully she had Impa and Link, both helping her. She smiled at the peaceful times with the two of them, memories that she would never forget.

But again she asked herself, was she ready to lead? Her father was a great king, but all she has ever done was be invaded. Did she have the trust of her people? How could she get them to accept her as their leader if she couldn't?

Zelda knew that this was a break from work…but she keeps coming back to the fact that she might not be ready. After seeing the unity of this village, she was once again reminded of her naivety. And Hylia…how could she lead her people if she couldn't raise a child.

In many ways, being a mother was like being a queen. One raised a child, the other raised a kingdom. She needed to do both, but how was she to do so?

A cry once again filled the room, and Zelda groaned as she stumbled her way towards Hylia once more, cradling the child.

_Show confidence, and the child will feel safety_

Zelda cooed the child and patted the child like Uli had done, accepting the warmth from Hylia. The woman closed her eyes, and didn't show her unease, and as if by magic the baby's cries died down until it was soft gurgles. Zelda couldn't resist a warm smile appearing on her face as she stared at her child. Her Hylia. Her 'kingdom'.

"I am honoured that you put your trust in me Hylia."

Hylia gurgled happily, placing her hands on Zelda's face. Yeah Zelda was slowly learning. It's what people call 'baby steps'.

And she was happy with her progress.


End file.
